Lexington grad Mike Ward, assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator at Toledo, oversees one of the nation’s top ball-hawking defenses. / SUBMITTED PHOTO

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TOLEDO — Mike Ward, the mid-major college recruiter, loved being able to show prospects a 2011 football schedule that includes Ohio State, Boise State and Syracuse.

Mike Ward, the mid-major college coach, doesn’t love having to play all three of them in a 15-day span.

The Mansfield native and Lexington High School graduate is in his third year as Toledo’s assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator. He came to UT after 17 years with arch-rival Bowling Green, so he’s been in the Mid-American Conference long enough to know the trade-off for big-time exposure can be big-time adversity.

“In our situation as a mid-major you have to play these people,” Ward said, looking ahead to Saturday’s showdown against the Buckeyes in Columbus. “You hope that at the time you schedule them that not everyone is as good as advertised.”

As it turns out, Ohio State and Boise State might be better than advertised.Buckeyes move up

The Buckeyes, recovering from a memorabilia and tattoo scandal that cost coach Jim Tressel his job, moved up to 15th in this week’s polls after routing Akron 42-0. Nine OSU players were suspended for that game, including five projected starters, but four of them will be back Saturday, including Jordan Hall, the No. 1 tailback coming out of camp.

Six days after walking into a lions den in Columbus, the Rockets turn around and host Boise in a nationally-televised Friday night affair at the Glass Bowl.

Their reward for surviving that two-game gauntlet will be a trip to the Carrier Dome to face the rejuvenated Orangemen of Syracuse. The Orange, coming off their first bowl victory since 2001, rallied from 15 points down in their opener to beat Wake Forest in overtime.

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“The kids love it and get fired up to play these games, but the thing that always worries you and scares you to death is the cumulative affect,” Ward said on his way home Sunday night after a long day in the office. “When you make your conference run (at a title), what if you’re not at full strength?”

High expectations

Nobody in the MAC is feeling sorry for Toledo. The Rockets are league favorites, a testament to the turnaround the program has made in two years under head coach Tim Beckman (a former OSU assistant) and his staff. They inherited a program that went 3-9 in 2008, improving to 5-7 in Beckman’s debut season and 8-5 last year.

Toledo’s 7-1 mark in league play last season was its best since 2004. Fifteen starters are back from that team, which lost to Florida International in the Little Caesars Pizza Bowl. It was the school’s first postseason appearance in five years.

Even though the Rockets are three-touchdown underdogs Saturday, they are sitting prettier than two years ago when they lost 38-0 to the Buckeyes in Cleveland Browns Stadium. That team featured three freshmen in the secondary and five freshmen or sophomore starters on offense.

“We were so young and trying to figure out how to practice and prepare, but we’re past that point now,” Ward said. “We’re still somewhat young, but we have kids who have gotten a lot of reps. I’m not going to say we’re going to win (Saturday), but we know how to prepare.”

Under Ward, the UT defense went from allowing 37.7 points in 2009 to 28.5 last season. The most noticeable difference was in takeways, where the Rockets improved from 21 to 34, the fifth-highest total in the nation. They tied for eighth in the country in interceptions with 20.

The secondary coach is former Ashland University player and assistant Steve Clinkscale.

“It’s getting kids to buy into what you’re preaching,” Ward said. “It comes from ball awareness, putting pressure on the quarterback, knowing when to strip (the ball), not losing containment and doing the job at the back end.”

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Toledo allowed 11 touchdowns of 30 or more yards last season. Factor in the 34 takeways and it’s easy to draw the conclusion the Rockets gamble a lot on defense.

Ward says that perception would be wrong.

“Do we stress (takeaways)? Heck yeah,” he said. “We always watch the explosive plays we give up on film, then watch our takeways. We harp on why the ball is getting out on us, then we finish (the film session) on a good note.

“If you win the turnover battle, tackle well and don’t give up big plays, you have a chance to win.”

Ohio State coach Luke Fickell is sticking with the plan to play two quarterbacks Saturday, fifth-year senior Joe Bauserman and true freshman dual threat Braxton Miller. It doesn’t make Ward’s job any easier.

“It forces us to prepare for two completely different packages,” he said.

Assessing OSU

Toledo’s defense has plenty of practice at seeing two quarterbacks. The two-headed approach worked almost to perfection for the Rockets in their 58-22 opening win over New Hampshire. Junior Austin Dantin was 15 of 21 passing for 161 yards and three touchdowns, while sophomore Terrance Owens was 10 of 13 for 122 yards and two scores.

The only difference Ward sees in Ohio State’s offense without Tressel around is that Terrelle Pryor is no longer behind center. Facing a five-game suspension for his role in the scandal, Pryor left school for the NFL the week after Tressel was forced out on Memorial Day.

“They’ve got three running backs who could start anywhere in the nation and only two of them played against Akron,” Ward said. “Their offensive line is big and physical, they have two tight ends that are really good and their two quarterbacks have been told not to lose the game.

“What we’re getting ready for is No. 44 (fullback Zach Boren) running down our throats with the lead block. They’re going to want to play keep-away against us.”

Ward and Beckman, OSU’s cornerbacks coach in 2005-06, were on Urban Meyer’s Bowling Green staff in 2001-02. Meyer, now an ESPN analyst, won two national championships at Florida and has some Ohio State fans salivating at the prospect of the Ashtabula native taking over the Buckeyes when a coaching search begins at the end of this season.

“Both of them (Beckman and Meyer) are very, very organized,” Ward said. “The players know every day where they stand. There is no gray area. Both are player coaches. If you do things right, you’ll get rewarded.